Update 6! Enjoy everyone!
Chapter 10
Back at the Monastery, every available phone and communicator was running. Cole was upstairs, talking to Vania, and confirming that she could protect his own father, as well as the eccentric duo of Ed and Edna in her palace for at least a few weeks. He would be dropping them off on his dragon in the next two days. Kai was in the courtyard trying desperately to convince he and Nya's mother to stay put with Ray in their home on the other side of Ninjago, and simply lay low for a bit, and that no, they don't need any help, they've got everything under control, and oh yeah, would you be willing to host Dareth for a week or so? Who's Dareth? Well, it's hard to explain.
P.I.X.A.L was in the basement holding a virtual meeting with Cyrus Borg, explaining the situation to him, and offering a sanctuary with protection for him if he didn't feel safe enough in the security of the tower. Wu was on the Bounty, speaking with Misako asking her about her research, and was there anything about another Serpentine tribe in any of the scrolls?
Jay was with his parents, who had arrived in true Ed and Edna's Scrap'n'Junk fashion, with a very loud and very recognizable vehicle that could not be used in any capacity for transporting people stealthily. He was trying to convince them to park it in the Monastery's garage, and trust Jay and Cole to take them to their safe place with their dragons. Zane was trying to contact Ronin and the mailman, although the renegade wasn't answering his calls, and they didn't really think the mailman was in any danger. Lloyd told them to be safe rather than sorry with who they contacted. Speaking of the fearless leader himself, Lloyd was out in the city in his cloaked cruiser, trying to track down and warn as many of the allied elemental masters as possible, as well as offer them safety. He also was keeping an eye out for Okino, Racer 7, Antonia, Nelson, and Scott, who were technically on Zane's list to contact, but Lloyd knew there was a chance he would see them in the city. His next stop would be the police station to at least warn the commissioner and his teams. Nya? Well Nya was under the main control board in the basement of the Monastery, welding communication wires back together as fast as the extra strain burned through them.
P.I.X.A.L ended the call with her father just as an off-key yell came from under the control panel. Jay ran over to Nya and pulled her out to check that she was alright, which only frustrated her more.
"Stupid, outdated, piece of- aurg!" She yelled as she kicked it and seethed.
"Jay! We have to make sure to reinforce these wires with chronosteel as soon as possible. They can't take a full-fledged mission like this anymore, they're too old."
Coming down the steps with Kai and only narrowly missing a flying wrench, Cole called out to Nya while he set more coffee down on one of the worktables.
"Didn't you just reinforce them with that new metal Borg invented last year? I thought that was supposed to..." Whatever else the Earth ninja was trying to say was quickly cut off as Nya continued to rant.
"You know I did, didn't I? And you WOULD think that the metal in a top-secret base would be able to handle five communications at once plus a realm scanner on it, but NO, it has to just fry out and burn me into a crisp." Jay had been edging away through the entire situation and now was stationed behind Cole and Kai. "She was your sister first... you calm her down."
Edging closer to their daughter-in-law, Ed and Edna took, as they did most, the situation over. "Nya, dear, why don't you come with me? I packed some of that tea you loved so much the last time you were at our home." Ed, meanwhile, had snuck up behind Jay and Kai and slapped them on the back. "Come on boys! Gee Wilkers, I bet with the steel traps we all three have we can get the chromo-doo hickeys working in no time!" Jay sighed, and Ed began to drag the two toward the panel as Nya was dragged away by his wife. Cole was left standing alone and walked over to where P.I.X.A.L was trying to compute if this was a humorous situation or not.
"Well, the good news is that Vania is ready for my dad and the Walkers. Although I'm not too sure if she knows what she's getting into... she's optimistic. What can I say?"
P.I. answered with a chuckle. "That seems to be an appropriate adjective to describe the Queen from what you and the other ninja have told me of your adventure. I wish I could accompany you when you travel to the city to drop off your father and the Walkers. I would like to meet her." She swiveled to check off "The Walkers" and "Lou" from their "Protection Needed" list. Cole grinned. "I'm sure she would love you P.I.X, we will definitely all have to make another trip after we take care of these nutjobs. Speaking of which, did you pick up anything in your scans?" P.I.X.A.L moved back into the swivel chair that was positioned in front of the large screen and began pressing buttons as the picture changed.
"As far as our analysis has showed, the only major unusual gathering was at the Fernhurst Event Center a few days ago." Cole cocked his head. "An event center? What's so weird about that? Couldn't it have been just a wedding or party?" P.I.X.A.L made a small noise, then turned to face him.
"Did you really think I wouldn't check that schedule before bringing up the gathering? I am a bit more intelligent than that." Cole hurriedly went to apologize, before he noticed a smile on her face. "You should know, Zane made the same point when it was first registered as well. I am merely teasing you." She continued, "But I called the center. The space wasn't rented out on that day. Whoever was there had a key, or picked the lock to get in. What is more unusual is that when I checked the security footage…" Here Cole cut in. "They gave you the security footage? Just like that?"
"She asked. That is normally how you get security footage, isn't it?" Zane put his hands on P.I.X.A.L's shoulders as he joined the conversation, and she raised a mechanical eyebrow as she turned to look at him. "Definitely. Because no one within the present company has ever hacked a security camera for any logical reason, right, Zane?" Explaining further, she answered Cole's question.
"But yes. I simply told the employee that we needed to know because we were investigating some suspicious activity in the area. She was more than happy to provide the footage. What is strange is that the footage has been altered in some way. Look at this." The two ninjas leaned in as she pulled up two images side by side. "This was four days ago at 3 pm. Do you see the sequence of cars on the street?" Cole wasn't sure where the nindroid was headed with the explanation but continued. "Yeah, I see 'em. Red, green, and a white truck with a red tailgate." P.I.X.A.L nodded. "Yes. Now look at this image. This picture is from three days ago at what the clock says is 3 pm."
Zane cut in. "It is the same sequence of cars on the street. But why does this matter? It is possible that the vehicles' owners did not move them during that time." "I considered that as well but look at what three days ago at 11 am looks like." P.I.X.A.L answered as a third image appeared and both elemental masters let out audible "Oh's." The sequence of cars on the street was now blue, blue, black, and the very noticeable truck was now gone from the image.
"When I watched the footage through during the times other cameras had placed a large group in this area, the second sequence of cars arrived at various times throughout the morning, when the owners of the first sequence had presumably left for their commutes. Then, at around 2:30, the image changes without any explanation or movement of the cars. Blue, blue, black suddenly becomes red, green, and white."
Understanding dawned in Zane's eyes. "They spliced the footage." "Exactly." P.I.X.A.L spun in her chair once more to face them. "Who would go to all the trouble to splice footage for an exact time frame so that only someone who was really paying attention would notice? It would have also been done remotely. The camera appeared untouched."
"That is very concerning. The someone who has done this is both skilled and caring deeply about what they are doing. They clearly do not want to be detected to the point of hacking and lining up splices of camera."
Cole nodded thoughtfully. "We'll have to have a team debrief once everyone is back down here. These guys keep getting shot up on my radar for bad news. Or, in Jay and Kai's case, we can debrief once they fix that panel." A loud crash came from the direction of Jay, Kai, and Ed at about that same time, and Cole and the two nindriods winced. "Perhaps it would be wise to get them started on an alternative project, Zane. I can rewire a panel in an afternoon, but I can't rebuild one." P.I.X.A.L offered.
"I will find a different use of their time." Zane replied to her. "Perhaps Ed would be willing to look at the alignment on my bike. It has been acting unusual recently. And I need to begin breakfast so that would save me some time later…"
"Oh no you don't! If anyone is looking at any vehicles, they should look at my car. It's been on Nya's list for weeks!" Cole started away from the pair, yelling to the trio in the other direction. "Ed! I have a problem, and I think you are JUST the man to figure it out!"
Chapter 11
"More crazies? Joy. You know, after hiding out for twenty years in a video game, a guy could find a place to find some real peace. Do you guys just have a disaster complex or something?" Lloyd shrugged from where he was leaning against a workbench in Scott's new garage, which he was renting in Ninjago city. "We don't really get to pick. Just like you didn't get to pick with those red-visors or Unagami."
"Touche." Scott's legs answered. He was currently stretched out on a dolly, wiring something underneath Lloyd's cruiser. "So, what, you want to warn me? Want me to 'head for cover' or 'lay low' for a bit?" He rolled out from under the car. "There. Now it will actually be quiet, instead of just you just thinking it's quiet."
Lloyd was still partially recovering from Scott's straightforward analysis of the warning. "Did you talk to Seven by any chance today?"
"Talk to her? She lives upstairs." Two thumps from above their heads sounded, and the men glanced upwards. "Speak of the visor. We just decided to camp out for a while together. She's still getting used to the new place and having more than several cities blocks to live. Yeah. We might have talked about it." He patted the hood of the car. "She's a good machine Lloyd. Whoever made her know their books mechanics." He flipped the hood of his sweatshirt back up and crouched to stick something small on the car by the base of the wheel frame.
"Book mechanics?" Lloyd questioned as he regarded Scott's signature sticker and walked around to open the driver's door. "Should I ask?" Scott himself stood up and stretched. "There are mods that can only work if you throw the book out the window. Or better yet, burn it. Your by-the-book mechanic is going to faint when they see my mod. But the car will be quieter." Now three thumps came from above their heads. "Got to go dude. Seven must have ordered an early breakfast. That's the 'get up here before I eat it all' code. We appreciate you guys giving us a heads-up. I know how to lay low, probably will just do that for a while. We can protect ourselves too you know." He gestured to his side, where the Green Ninja now noticed a tell-tale bulge. "And I doubt these Scallta creeps can be much worse than constantly being worried about red-visors cubing you." Lloyd's thoughts offered a coy reply, but he bit it back. Scott hadn't lived through the different disasters he had over the years after all. In the end, he just shrugged and closed the car door, flashed his lights to Scott, enabled the cloaking mechanism and rolled out of the garage.
The door slammed shut behind him, and Lloyd's half smile showed up in the mirror. Scott knew his security. They would be alright. Besides, at least now he knows where to find us if he needs us. He pointed his car towards the edge of the city and had passed the limits just as the Sun reached the most annoying level in the sky. Lloyd stretched while he kept one hand on the wheel, and then dry washed his face. He was hungry, he realized. None of them had eaten since the early supper they had had the night before evening patrols in the team room. Hopefully Zane would have some breakfast going by the time he got back. Most of the team also should have completed their assignments, so they would de-brief over Zane's food. Maybe that would coax Skylor out from their room, or at least wake her up. Lloyd knew that Kai wouldn't relax until she woke up and could tell them all how she was feeling. He flipped the visor down as the Sun peeked over the cliffs. No rain…Jay had been wrong. But it was sunrise, and now they had four days left.
Back at the monastery, Ed, Jay, and Kai had just finished tuning up Cole's car and adjusting some of the power levels within the engine. Ed had figured out the problem before either of the two younger men and was still fussing with some of the bolts as Lloyd's car rolled into the garage. Ed whistled low and immediately lost interest in Cole's car.
"Now there's a real fancy machine, golly gosh! I haven't heard an engine like that since I built that vehicle for your birthday a few years back, son." Lloyd stepped out of the car, lowered his mask, and tossed his keys to Kai, who swiftly caught them and hung them on their hook by one of the doorways that led upstairs.
"Yup. It's a good car. Misako and P.I.X. made it up for me a few years back." Ed had begun to creep towards the hood, moving to open it and take a look inside. Seeing P.I.X.A.L. approaching, he rapidly stepped aside and tucked his hands deep in his pockets in a short-lived attempt to keep from touching the engine or being in P.I.X.A.L's way.
"Excuse me, Mr. Walker. I just need to check one thing in Lloyd's engine…"
"AH! P.I.X, how about you update me on what you and Zane found on the scanner…The car can wait, you know!" The female nindroid blinked in surprise and cocked her head at Lloyd.
"Alright, if that is what you would prefer. Zane is in the kitchen and has prepared breakfast for us all so that we may multi-task as we prepare for the next course of action."
Right on cue from across the room, Lloyd heard Cole's stomach grumble. The black ninja grinned sheepishly.
"What?! I have an internal clock over here, don't blame me for being routine." Kai wiped his hands on a rag and went to a working sink to scrub at the oil coating them.
"I'm gonna head up awhile, guys; I want to check on Sky before we all sit down. Did you find everyone you wanted to, Lloyd?" Lloyd shrugged.
"Kind of? Got mixed results when it came to how open they were to the "hide" suggestion. Didn't find Antonia or Nelson, and the police commissioner was a fast trip. He wanted me to come back this afternoon and tell all the leaders there at once so there was less chance of miscommunication. " Kai nodded and turned to head up the stairs as Jay offered commentary.
"Let me guess, Scott didn't want any part of it. He thinks he knows exactly what to do and how to do it." He was now standing at the hood of Lloyd's car, next to a space that had only moments ago held Ed.
Lloyd nodded and leaned back to glimpse a pair of legs underneath his car, carefully hidden by Jay. Like father, like son. He smiled.
"That's about typical Scott. You can't blame the guy, Lloyd. His preparedness and street know-how is what kept him alive all those years in Prime Empire." Jay stated.
"That's true." P.I.X.A.L. stood from her chair at the scanner.
"Zane says that breakfast is ready, if we are able to join him upstairs. Where did Ed go?"
A metallic-sounding thud came from the direction of Lloyd's car, and Jay turned red and tried to belatedly cover the sound with a coughing fit. It didn't work. P.I.X.A.L's eyes narrowed, but she was distracted as Cole slung an arm around her shoulders on one side, and Lloyd did the same on the other side of her.
"Do you think he is making pancakes, Lloyd?" Cole asked with a cheery voice.
"I don't know, Cole!" Lloyd answered with the same voice as they rapidly steered P.I.X.A.L towards the steps and away from the car that they both knew Jay was trying to drag his father out from under with limited success. "Do you know P.I.X.?" The conversation was out of earshot as the trio traveled up the stairs and Jay was left staring at the legs of his father.
"Okay, Dad, when I pull, you have to scoot with me!" From under the car, a muffled but cheerful answer came. "On 3. One, two, ouch!" Ed had tried but shuffled the wrong way, and Jay's head was knocked into the side of the car.
"Dad, towards me. Scoot towards me!"
"Oh golly, I'm sorry, son! I'll just wiggle myself here; oh, that's no good, hang on!" Jay sighed and finally just grabbed his dad's legs at the ankles. "Dad? Duck, and don't move."
The older Walker appeared grease covered and grinning up at his son. "Well, didn't that work just right, there, okay Jay!" He got up from the floor and clapped his son on the back. "Now! Did I hear something about your titanium friend making breakfast?"